Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to the TOUR I go...

All the waiting, the planning, the anticipation, and the preparation is about to pay off. It's TOUR TIME!!

For cycling fans, this is when holidays, birthdays, and 'sports spectaculars' are all rolled into one. BAM!

For the cyclists themselves, "Judgement Day" rapidly approaches. All the training, all the talk, and all the conjecture is about to take a back seat to what they can produce with their legs and their minds over the next 3 weeks.

For those of us 'behind the scenes', it's a frantic (albeit 'controlled') scramble to make sure all elements are in place to PRESENT the spectacle as it deserves to be experienced. TV producers putting last minute touches and tweeks on show elements in order to 'dazzle' the viewer...announcers garnering every bit of information before the prologue in order to 'wow' with their knowledge...event organizers overseeing the infrastructure to contain and showcase the 'stars'...

It is a circus worth experiencing at some point. We are all lucky to be a part of it. I'll do my best to impart what i feel is 'worth' knowing at times, as passionately and professionally as i can. It has the chance, and all the elements, to be one of the most INTERESTING races in years...

The obvious "Alberto vs. Lance" drama, the Green Jersey battle between Cavendish and Farrar, the 1st week's pivotal role in terms of the COBBLES on Stage 3, the 100th anniversary of the Pyrenees, and the critical role they'll play in determining the champion.

It's a jigsaw puzzle of epic proportions. We all have to wait for the final piece to be placed when the inevitable glory will be bestowed on only a select few in Paris on the 25th.

Gentlemen, start your 'engines'...

Fruitless Search

Those of you that know me KNOW that i rarely go on a 'rant'...at least in public. But, i've got to admit, i've 'cracked' over this APPLE iPhone 4 farce. For the moment, the Cupertino company should change their name to "Lemon".

Yes, i know, in the grand scheme of things...the BP fiasco, the Van der Sloot sadness, and the overwhelming myriad of more important issues...a 'phone' (or the inability to get one) should not weigh so heavily on my mind. What irks me the most as an Apple devotee is that THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER THAN THE OTHER GUYS when it comes to glitches and gaffs. How could you not know that your whole phone/internet ordering system would collapse? And if you thought there was even a CHANCE it would, why not advertise that you HAD TO go to a store to place an order. It's tantamount to 'false advertising'. Again, APPLE, you're supposed to let us read about this happening to those other computer companies.

Shipping dates have now been modified, and who knows why they advertised a WHITE VERSION...you can't order it, reserve it, or as far as i know, verify it exists, unless you believe the picture on the website. It's enough to leave a VERY SOUR TASTE in your mouth.

APPLE's lame attempt at an apology seems even less sincere when their press release states how 'happy' they are with 600,000 'pre-orders'...well, guess what, had you not shut your systems down, and made it IMPOSSIBLE for most of the day to place an order, you would have had a lot more, Mr. Jobs. And in today's bottom line, wouldn't that have made your press release even 'tastier'??

OK, you're thinking it, so I'll say it...

Hello, World! It's me. Did you miss me? Something tells me some of you did, some of you didn't, and some could care less. I guess in the grand scheme of things, that's just like life. So i'm moving on, and hopefully you'll come along.

Where have i been? AROUND.

:-)

But really, just taking a break from the 'overload' of our digital world. i have to say, for the most part, i am 'over' the need to be Tweeting, Blogging, Poking, and constantly telling the universe what i am up to...in the midst of traveling every week for work, it's become an almost inescapable and unbearable weight to try to keep up with it all. And i don't think i'm alone in this perception.

That said, i do think i'll have some insight and some interesting things to say in the coming weeks...so stay tuned...I was in Des Moines yesterday to cover the Hy-Vee Triathlon Elite Cup, I'm in Edmonton this coming week for some WEC action, and then it's off to Rotterdam for the start of the 2010 Tour de France.

SO, PACK YOUR BAGS AND COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

I can't wait to see the events unfold, and i'll do my best to convey the excitement and importance to those of you who chose to tune in. All the best.